The doorbell suddenly rang.
Long Aotian stood up with a smile. "I think our trees have arrived. Let's get ready—we're planting them today!"
Watching Long Aotian's retreating figure as he jogged to the door, my heart churned with mixed emotions. Taking a deep breath, I got up and followed.
Sure enough, the trees had arrived.
With the workers' help, the two saplings were placed into the pre-dug holes.
Watering and filling the soil went much faster than digging.
With the addition of the two trees, the yard immediately took on a different atmosphere.
Just then, the gate creaked open again.
Lin Wanning wheeled her bike inside. "Hey, I'm back!"
"You're back so early today?" Long Aotian glanced at the time—barely past nine—and chuckled.
"What, don’t you want to see me, Brother?"
"There’s still some lean meat porridge Yuying made in the pot. Go have some."
After tamping down the soil, Long Aotian grabbed a rake and headed toward the vegetable patch. "I’ll loosen the soil. Tomorrow, we’ll plant our own vegetables."
"Sis, isn’t Brother being unusually diligent today?" Lin Wanning remarked with amusement.
Normally, they were all so well taken care of at home that they’d even gained a few pounds.
Watching Long Aotian bustle about, Hu Yuying exhaled deeply, her gaze never leaving him. "It’s good for him to stay busy."
Some emotions needed an outlet. No matter how hard he tried to act normal, his subconscious actions betrayed him.
And his eyes never lied.
By eleven, Li Qingxue had also hurried back.
Seeing her return, Long Aotian laughed. "You guys aren’t actually worried about me, are you?"
"Come on, do I really look like someone you need to worry about?"
"No one gets to keep their youth forever. We all grow old with time. Life and death are just part of the cycle—some come sooner, some later. If we keep dwelling on it, how are we supposed to live our lives?"
"So, are you coming shopping with us?" Li Qingxue asked playfully.
"Sure, but shouldn’t we have lunch first?"
"What do you feel like eating, Long Aotian?"
"Hot pot. It’s been a while."
At the meal, Hu Yuying unexpectedly bought a case of beer and even opened a bottle for Long Aotian herself.
"Where are we going after this?"
"To the forest park to see the peach blossoms," the three girls chorused.
"Ah, so you’ve already planned this out."
......
After lunch, the four of them set off.
The forest park wasn’t exactly close—even by subway, it took a while—so time was tight.
This was peak season for peach blossoms, and by the time they transferred to the final subway line, the train was packed.
"Stick close once we get off. If you get lost, I’m not coming to find you," Long Aotian teased, shielding the three of them in a corner of the crowded car.
"We won’t get lost!"
"Seriously, you always treat us like we’re three years old. I’m nineteen now!"
"Even if we do get lost, I’ll find my way back."
The northern section of the forest park was the city’s largest viewing area for mountain peach blossoms, stretching into a vast pink sea.
The sheer visual impact left every visitor breathless.
Hu Yuying and the others were no exception. In that moment, their joy felt like a release.
They pulled Long Aotian along as they merged into the crowd.
"Take pictures of us!"
(Note: The unrelated line about user login issues has been omitted for coherence.)
"And take one with us!"
"We have to get a group photo here!"
Long Aotian obliged every request.
Usually the one who dreaded walking and shopping, today he seemed like an endlessly charged robot, never tiring.
As the hours passed and the three girls eventually wilted from all the photos and fun, Long Aotian remained full of energy.
But he was smiling—genuinely happy.
Standing amid the peach blossoms, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. The rich floral scent was intoxicating, washing away all worries.
"Ugh... everything here is so expensive," Li Qingxue grumbled.
"Says the one who’s been eating nonstop." Long Aotian handed out the mini cakes he’d queued to buy.
"Long Aotian, don’t you dare call me a glutton!" she protested.
"Fine, fine, no complaints. Hurry up—I think there’s candied hawthorn up ahead."
Seeing the smile on Long Aotian’s face, Hu Yuying finally relaxed.
"Hey, isn’t that the contestant from the music show? She looks so familiar..."
"Hold on, let me check... I think she’s Contestant 08, what’s her name again..."
Hearing the chatter, Lin Wanning immediately turned her back to the speakers, facing Long Aotian.
No one had recognized her all day, and now, just as they were leaving, someone did.
Not surprising—it was Friday.
At noon, the park had been filled with middle-aged and elderly visitors.
But after school let out, younger crowds who followed entertainment shows had arrived.
Meeting Lin Wanning’s gaze, Long Aotian mouthed silently, "Your fans. Want to say hello?"
Lin Wanning wrinkled her nose. "Manager, I haven’t even debuted yet. What kind of fan wouldn’t recognize their own idol?"
Before the onlookers could finish searching on their phones, Long Aotian had already ushered the three away.
After a full afternoon of fun, they were exhausted—but not too tired to review the day’s photos.
They edited all the best shots before finally, satisfied, heading to bed.
......
Listening to the steady breathing of the others as they slept, Long Aotian slowly opened his eyes.
He slipped out of the room without a sound.
In the yard, he lit a cigarette and sat on the steps.
The moonlight cast a haze over his pupils, reflecting a confusion he couldn’t put into words—like losing his bearings on an endless road, adrift.
All day, he’d forced his thoughts into submission, burying himself in activity to forget.
But in the quiet of night, his mind wandered unchecked, and memories of Shen Mengjie flooded in unbidden.
Her confidence, her pride, her sorrow, her willfulness, her whims—until it all dissolved into that final image of her smiling softly, her hand resting on her belly...
Four months along... the baby would have taken shape by now...
How hopeless must she have been, to lose all faith in this world...
The calm he’d clung to shattered like an explosion, tearing open the facade he’d so carefully maintained.
His entire body trembled. If only he hadn’t left that day—would everything have been different?
Suddenly, Long Aotian froze. Why had he never once considered taking responsibility for Shen Mengjie?
That misunderstanding with Hu Yuying back then—the excitement and joy he had felt in his heart—still felt vivid even now as he looked back...
He racked his brain, searching, as if trying to claw out an answer.
But the more he thought, the blurrier his vision became. In that hazy moment, a figure seemed to materialize before him. She stood with her arms crossed, a hint of reproach in her voice: "You drank all my wine..."
Long Aotian rose and stumbled toward the shadow, empty bottles rolling underfoot before clattering heavily to the ground.
Gazing up at the bright moon, he covered his eyes and let out a helpless, anguished sob...
Regarding the issue of cross-device bookshelf saving for logged-in users, it has been fixed. If you still can't save your bookshelf, please first note down its contents, clear your browser's cookies, then log back in and re-add your books.
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
